Donald Trump would fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler “on day one” if he’s re-elected president, he said while speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville this weekend.
He’d also set up a strategic national reserve of bitcoin as an economic asset, he said, and end the current administration’s “anti-crypto crusade.”
“The moment I'm sworn in, the persecution stops and the weaponization ends against your industry,” Trump told those in attendance.
“I will appoint a new SEC chairman who believes that America should build the future, not block the future,” Trump went on to say. Gensler, who has chaired the commission since 2021, is widely considered anti-crypto and said in May that the industry is marked by “frauds and scams.”
“As President I will immediately shut down Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” Trump said, referring to an alleged initiative by the U.S. government to dissuade traditional finance firms from servicing the crypto industry. “They want to choke you out of business. We're not gonna let that happen.”
The Republican presidential nominee began taking donations in cryptocurrency two months ago, the first major presidential candidate to do so. Since then, he’s received $4 million in crypto assets in donations, a source familiar with his fundraising told CNN.
This is an about-face from his stance during his prior presidency, when in 2019 he tweeted that he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrencies, which “are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air.”
“We have only one real currency in the USA, and it is stronger than ever, both dependable and reliable,” he tweeted at the time, referencing the U.S. dollar.
But on Saturday, he called for the U.S. to become “crypto capital of the planet.”
“No longer will your government sit by and watch as bitcoin jobs and businesses flee to other countries because America's laws are too unclear and too tough and too angry and too stiff,” he said. “We will keep each and every bitcoin job in the United States of America.”
He said he plans, if elected, to appoint a “bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council.”
“Their task will be to design transparent regulatory guidance for the benefit of the entire industry and they will get it done in 100 days,” he promised. “We will have regulations, but from now on the rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry. People that want to make it clear and simple, straightforward and fair. People that want to see your industry thrive, not dive.”
Trump ended his hour-long speech by buttering up the crowd, referring to crypto fans as “modern day Edisons and Wright Brothers and Carnegies and Henry Fords.”
“[W]hat you do in your lifetime stands a chance to outlive us all and inspire humanity for generations to come,” he said. “You are building America's future with your own smarts, your own grit, and your own skin in the game … Most people don't have that courage. My job will be to set you free and to let you do what Americans do best and what you're going to do better than anybody … You're gonna win, win, win.”
U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel, D-NC, also spoke to conference attendees over the weekend. He called on the next administration to “select a pro-innovation SEC chair,” and he made reference to Trump’s former stance on crypto, according to the Financial Times.
“I want to say this as politely and respectfully as I can. Donald Trump was president for four years. He did nothing on this issue,” said Nickel. “Right now, I can tell you: He is totally full of s---.”
